Global Wildlife Travel Index: The Best Destinations for Wildlife Travel

The number one spot in our Wildlife Travel Index is awarded to the USA.

With a grand total of 60 national parks and a whopping 757 natural history museums, the USA offers an exciting variety of wildlife explorations and education for visitors. The USA is also home to one of the oldest national parks in the entire world, Yellowstone which was founded in 1872. It is a common misconception that this is the oldest national park in the world, but in fact that honour lies with Mongolia where Bogdkhan Uul was founded in 1783.

The USA also scored highly thanks to its impressive megafauna conservation efforts, for which it has been ranked one of the best in the world according to the Megafauna Conservation Index.

Following the USA in the top 10 countries are:

2. Venezuela
3. Brazil
4. Thailand
5. Tanzania
6. Colombia
7. Croatia
8. Mexico
9. Australia
10. Canada

Venezuela ranked in second position due to its high prevalence of national parks and protected natural areas. In fact, Venezuela has the greatest proportion of natural protected areas in the world, with protected natural areas accounting for 54.14% of the total land.
We were thrilled to see our destination of Thailand take the fourth spot. The Southeast Asia country ranked highly based on a variety of factors but was particularly strong in its megafauna conservation efforts, for which it is one of the best in the world, plus its prevalence of national parks and natural history museums.

Another of our destinations leading the index is Tanzania in fifth place. This destination is also a strong contender across a variety of factors but is particularly notable in its conservation efforts for which it is third in the world according to the Megafauna Conservation Index, with Botswana and Namibia taking the first and second spots respectively for megafauna conservation.

Another of our destinations ranking highly on the Global Wildlife Travel Index is Australia, which is ranked in ninth position. Again, Australia performed well over a variety of categories including wildlife biodiversity and prevalence of natural history museums, but its standout strength was national parks, for which it has the most in the world boasting a grand total of 685 national parks.

The results by continent are as below:

Best Country for Wildlife in Africa: Tanzania

Best Country for Wildlife in Asia: Thailand

Best Country for Wildlife in Europe: Croatia

Best Country for Wildlife in North America: USA

Best Country for Wildlife in South America: Venezuela

Best Country for Wildlife in Oceania: Australia

The index may also throw up a few surprises. One interesting result is that three European countries ranked within the top 20, these are Croatia, Italy and Sweden. This may come as a surprise as European countries are not typically one of the most associated destinations for wildlife holidays.

Croatia ranked highly on our index due to its prevalence of protected natural areas, which accounts for 38.11% of its total land. The country is also home to a high biodiversity of wildlife and one of the world’s earlier established national parks.

Italy also has one of the world’s earliest established national parks and is home to a vast number of natural history museums, in fact it is within the top 10 countries in the world for its array of natural history museums.

Sweden ranked within the top 20 countries due to its megafauna conservation efforts, for which it is one of the best in the world and the second best in Europe. Sweden is one of Europe’s top countries for number of national parks, plus it has one of the world’s longest established national parks which was founded in 1919.